Infants are afflicted with various developmental disorders for example autism spectrum disorders, Asperger's syndrome, Down's syndrome, cerebral palsy, velocariofacial syndrome, Klinefelter's syndrome, William's syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, Mowat-Wilson syndrome, and neurofibromatosis. Neurodevelopmental disorders in infants impair growth and development of brain or central nervous system producing neurodevelopmental consequences. Early intervention is one of the most promising treatments for developmental disorders but requires early diagnosis to be most effective.
Acoustic analysis of infant cry has been a focus of clinical and developmental research for a number of years. Although a variety of approaches to cry analysis have been employed, each has its drawbacks. Applied and clinical studies of infant cry have examined features of cry production that may distinguish babies with specific conditions or medical risks. Lester et al., utilizes infant cry analysis as a measure of developmental status in babies with pre- and peri-natal risk factors, such as prenatal substance exposure. Lester et al., Pediatrics, 110, 1182-1192 (2002). Goberman & Robb, 1999 analyzes infant cry for premature birth. Goberman, A. M, and Robb, M. P. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 42, 850-861 (1999). Sheinkopf et al., analyzes infant cry for autism. Sheinkopf et. al., Autism Research, 5, 331-339 (2012).
In response to a pain stimulus, the cry acoustics for an infant at risk for autism is atypical and high-pitched. Ibid., p 6 ¶ 2.
Manual inspection of spectrograms is the standard method for detecting acoustic features in cry sounds, including the timing and onset of cry vocalizations and, the fundamental frequency of cry. However, the manual inspection method is slow, limiting the amount of data that can be analyzed and requires trained observers to visually inspect the spectrograms. There is a need for a non-invasive, fast, automatic and accurate test for diagnosing infant developmental disorders, yielding early detection and a capability of early intervention in treatment of the developmental disorders.